It’s official: Meacham new offensive coordinator at Houston

Doug Meacham joins the Cougars after spending eight seasons on the staff at Oklahoma State.

Houston head coach Tony Levine officially announced Monday that Doug Meacham has been hired as offensive coordinator and Travis Bush has been promoted to assistant head coach and co-offensive coordinator.

Meacham spent the past eight seasons as the inside receivers/tight ends coach and passing game coordinator at Oklahoma State. The Cowboys offense was among the nation’s most prolific this season, averaging 547 yards and 45.7 points per game.

Meacham replaces Mike Nesbitt, who was fired after a 30-13 season-opening loss to Texas State.

Here are a few statements from the release announcing the moves:

Levine: “Throughout the last eight seasons, Oklahoma State has continually set a benchmark for offenses across the nation. The explosive, high-scoring product they placed on the field is synonymous with what the University of Houston has seen in the past and what we plan to replicate in the future. We feel the combination of skills from he and Travis, along with the rest of our offensive staff, will benefit the program and its student-athletes greatly.”

Meacham: “I’m obviously extremely excited to join the University of Houston family. Tony Levine is an unbelievable man and I’m really looking forward to being in a position under his leadership. What really captured my attention about the University of Houston is how progressive of a place it is. The administration has the university headed in the right direction and I’m excited about the program’s future.”

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy: “I’ve had a long-standing relationship with Doug Meacham. We were teammates as players and we’ve coached together for as long as I’ve been head coach at Oklahoma Stat. This is an exciting opportunity for him and his family and one that I know he’ll do well with. Houston is getting someone who has been very helpful to Oklahoma State’s offensive success. We wish him the best.”

Here’s some more bio info on Meacham:

• Meacham spent three years as offensive coordinator at Georgia Military College. He joined the staff in 1991 as offensive line and tight ends coach. In 1994, he was promoted to offensive coordinator and helped guide the school to an impressive 35-8 record during his tenure.

• Meacham was offensive coordinator for one season at Jacksonville State in 1997. In that one season, JSU’s offensive unit broke 21 school passing and receiving records and went from 1-10 to 7-4 for the biggest turnaround in Division I-AA.

• After JSU, Meacham served as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Henderson State. In 2000, Meacham coached an offense that broke two Division II national passing and receiving records, four Gulf South Conference records and nine school passing and receiving records.

• Meacham led a record-setting offense at Samford in his three seasons as offensive coordinator. In 2004, Samford set school records for passing yards (2,986), pass completions (256) and completion percentage (59.8).

• As a player, Meacham was a three-year starting offensive lineman at Oklahoma State (1983-86) and honorable mention All-American as a senior, blocking for legendary running backs Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders.